Body of missing man found

Officers responded to a call about a body found in an open field in southeast Fort Collins that has been identified as George Gosden.

By Saja Hindi

Reporter-Herald Staff Writer

Posted:
07/16/2014 02:14:22 PM MDT

The body found Monday afternoon in far southeast Fort Collins has been identified as that of missing 64-year-old George Gosden.

A resident found Gosden's body in an open field near Zeigler Road, south of Kinard Core Knowledge Middle School at about 4 p.m. Monday. Investigators from the Larimer County Sheriff's Office, the Coroner's Office and Fort Collins Police Services investigated into the evening.

The Coroner's Office identified the body Tuesday afternoon through Gosden's dental records, in collaboration with his dentist.

Gosden went missing from his home in the 2800 block of Eastborough Drive July 5 where he lived for about a year with his wife Eiko and son Hiro. Family members reported him missing to Fort Collins Police immediately because Gosden had dementia and they suspected he wandered off and couldn't remember where he was. They set up search parties, a Facebook group and connected with other groups on social networks to get the word out about Gosden's disappearance.

Deputy Coroner and pathologist Dr. Michael Burson performed the autopsy and determined the date of death to be July 6 at an unknown time. The manner of death was determined to be an accident and the cause was atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, environmental exposure, dehydration and dementia.

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The family asked posted a statement on the "Find George Gosden" Facebook page Tuesday evening.

"We want to extend our sincere thanks to our family, friends, and the community of Fort Collins, for their help and support during the search for George, which began on July 5th. Special thanks must be spoken to all those citizens, near and far, who volunteered their time to lead, plan, and participate in the individual and group searches," it read.

The statement acknowledged that the news was not what the family had hoped for.

"This news was difficult to receive; however, the 9 days of uncertainty, when we did not know George's whereabouts, were difficult for us as well," it said.